Iranian Knowledge-Based Firm Helps Under-Developed Areas to Tackle Water Shortage

"The product for which we obtained the knowledge-based badge is a hospital wastewater treatment device that works with the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) approach. This method had a long history, but we have made improvements in parts of the device where there were some weaknesses and developed the treatment process," Mohammad Mahmoudzadeh, the managing director of the knowledge-based company said.

"Considering the existing environmental challenges, including water scarcity, which we can see in Lake Urmia or the drying wetlands in the Southern part of the country, one of the technological ways to solve this crisis is the use and recycling of wastewater (wastewater treatment)," the researcher said.

"Another product we have developed to tackle environmental problems is wastewater treatment using electrocoagulation.  Electrocoagulation (EC) is an electrochemical process for the treatment of wastewater using an electric current without adding chemicals," added Mahmoudzadeh. 

Electrocoagulation ("electro", meaning to apply an electrical charge to water, and "coagulation", meaning the process of changing the particle surface charge, allowing suspended matter to form an agglomeration) is an advanced and economical water treatment technology.

According to him,  the EC method has superiorities over other methods such as removing contaminants that are generally more difficult to remove by filtration or chemical treatment systems.

He added that the EC controls the consumption of chemicals or does not use chemicals at all. Moreover, it is fueled by electricity to treat the wastewater

He said that they have sold those two main products they produce to major companies in Iran such as giant automaker Iran Khodro and huge online shopping center Digikala.

"We have also exported them to Iraq and Afghanistan. We are expanding our activity to export them to the Persian Gulf countries as well. We have received the necessary permits from the Iranian industry ministry, the Iranian Department of Environment and the Iran National Standards Organization (INSO)," added Mahmoudzadeh.

Regarding the biggest or most important achievement of the knowledge-based group, the managing director said, "The biggest achievement of our group is the development of the know-how which includes various processes such as conducting tests, production and optimization of wastewater treatment machines."

According to him, by conducting tests on the contaminants, they help the clients. They can receive all the services in one place and benefit from services, he said.

"We provide appropriate services to underdeveloped areas such as Sistan and Baluchistan province and in part of the Western regions of the country. These services include agricultural soil analysis and providing fertilizer recommendations that help farmers improve their ability to grow crops. Also, we conduct fish breeding water testing for fish breeding farms in remote and mountainous areas," he concluded.

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